A friend of mine recently posted on social media, “Raisin oatmeal cookies that look like chocolate chip cookies are the main reason I have trust issues.”
I chuckled a bit, although I am a lover of both raisin-filled and chocolate-chip-filled oatmeal cookies. But then I started thinking about how good an old-fashioned, chewy oatmeal raisin cookie sounded.
With this column, I often try to get out of my comfort zone and try recipes I’ve never made before and sometimes with ingredients I haven’t ever used in my kitchen.
But the classics are classics for a reason.
So I pulled out my canister of oats and bag of raisins and whipped up a batch of just plain, delicious oatmeal raisin cookies. The recipe I used only adds nutmeg for spices, which I liked. While I love a good cinnamon-flavored oatmeal cookie, this lets the raisins be the star in the middle of the comforting flavor of oats and brown sugar.
The recipe I used is from the blog “Brown-Eyed Baker.” You can find it at https://www.browneyedbaker.com/chewy-oatmeal-raisin-cookies/#recipe. I doubled the nutmeg in my version.
Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats I used quick oats instead
- 1 1/2 cups raisins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two baking sheets by lining with parchment paper or greasing them with cooking spray and set aside.
- Beat the butter on medium speed until it’s creamy. Beat in the sugars for about three minutes until the mixture is fluffy. Beat in the eggs
- Dump in the rest of the ingredients except the oats and raisins and beat on low until everything is well combined. Stir in the oats and raisins.
- Roll the dough into about two-inch balls and place them about two inches apart on the baking sheets. Place both sheets in the oven.
- Bake for about 25 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are browned. Rotate the sheets (both front to back and top to bottom) halfway through baking to get an even bake.
- Let the cookies cool for a couple minutes and then transfer them to an airtight container to keep them soft and chewy.
Once my cookies were done, I enjoyed a couple with a big glass of milk, and it was the perfect treat. I had to take the Tupperware to work to make sure I didn’t finish off the whole batch—it was completely what I was in the mood for.
I’m sure it wasn’t my friend’s intention to bring more oatmeal raisin cookies into the world with her social media post, but I appreciated the inspiration, no matter how it came my way.
And you could definitely swap out the raisins for some chocolate chips, if you’re not a fan—just don’t try to trick anyone. You don’t want to be the reason for someone’s trust issues.
This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 14, 2020.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.
